Ministry of Justice provider and community services group manager Hayley MacKenzie says there will be no disruption to court proceedings or access to safe supervised contact while the new model is implemented. Photo: 123RF
Supervisors of meetings between children and parents who don't have custody are worried kids will be put in harm's way if the service is centralised.
The Ministry of Justice is looking to overhaul supervised contact services, which could include contracting one national provider or four regional ones, to improve consistency and financial oversight.
But Association of Supervised Contact Services (ANZASCS) board member and service provider Steve Christodoulou said the government had not explained what safeguards would be put in place to ensure standards remain high.
"We're really concerned that a company may come in who is really profit driven, cuts the standard of delivery in terms of safe practice right down and in turn delivers a service that is a tick box rather than actually there to protect families," Christodoulou said.
"Everything ... comes down to the almighty dollar, we understand that, but it needs to be done in a way that's both safe and commercially viable."
There are a range of reasons why parents may need supervised contact with children, including domestic violence, mental health or brain injuries, he said.
A provider's job is to keep kids safe while allowing them to maintain a relationship with their family.
They are currently contracted individually by Oranga Tamariki, or the Ministry of Justice - as long as they are an ANZASCS member.
ANZASCS sets standards, ensures safe practices, offers training and advocacy, and deals with complaints.
Christodoulou acknowledged there was a case for some change to streamline administration processes, because each court manages relationships with local providers in a different way.
But providers were in the dark about what exactly the government planned to change, and that was cause for concern, Christodoulou said.
"We're not sure ... where they're going with it," he said.
"There's been very limited information around what they're hoping to achieve."
Ministry of Justice provider and community services group manager Hayley MacKenzie said there would be no disruption to court proceedings or access to safe supervised contact while the new model is implemented.
But she did not say what the "new model" was, other than that it would offer more detailed practice guidance, and reduce some of the administrative burden on the courts and providers.
Its notice on government procurement website GETS said it would be "seeking providers to cover each of the Northern, Central, Lower North, and Southern regions, with the additional option of delivering services nationally or the option of more than one provider working together to service a region."
The Ministry in January published a "quality practice framework" for supervised contact, after consulting with the Law Society, the Office of the Children's Commissioner, Oranga Tamariki, ANZASCS, court staff and a group of providers.
"All current and new providers of the service will need to meet these practice standards," MacKenzie said.
"We are in the process of finalising a comprehensive transition plan, to ensure that the transition from one provider to another where necessary is as seamless as possible."
Christodoulou said the framework gave him some confidence, but he did not think the guidelines could be "honestly delivered" without safeguards like ANZASCS keeping new providers aligned with best practice.
